I’m Rebi Zsula (1991) a jazz vocalist, composer and musician based in Amsterdam. I grew up in Hungary in a non-musicians family but I have always been surrounded by the love and admiration for all kinds of music. At my early ages I was already singing and performing which was an intuitive and natural way of expressing myself. Over the years singing became my passion and a major part of my life which encouraged me to study music. I was 15 when I started to learn jazz music from a Hungarian jazz pianist and had a chance to perform on stage on regular basis.
Photo: Zoltán Raáb
In these year I discovered this style of music brings me joy and allow my personality to easily unfold which was a great motivation for me to move to a capital city and continue studying. I also started to explore playing on the piano and learn to accompany myself.
In 2011, I got into the Etüd Conservatory in Budapest and started to collaborate with different ensembles. I was one of the back-up vocalists of a Hungarian gipsy jazz band called Pankastic. We had a tour besides Europe and performed at several venues and festivals such as Budapest Jazz Club, Müpa, IF Café, Szimpla Kert, Debreceni Jazz Festival. I was one of the hosts as a singer on many jazz events at Ladó Café for 3 years. Over the years my passion and commitment grew toward music and I decided to pursue a career in this field. In 2016, I got accepted to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam as a jazz vocalist. Studying at the Cva gave me a chance to learn from outstanding musicians in the Dutch and European jazz scene such as Humphrey Campbell, Lydia van Dam, Sanna van Vliet, Fay Claassen and many others.
In 2019, I created my own Sextet called ’Rebi Zsula Project’ where I’m singing and playing the piano. In the band, we focus on my own compositions and arrangements which has a strong influence of jazz music with danceable rhythms and different grooves involved. We have already performed at some of the greatest venues in the Netherlands such as Bimhuis, Hermitage and Cinetol. We released our first EP ‘The Rainbow of Our Love’ on the 2nd July in 2021.
After I graduated from my bachelor’s degree I started my master studies at Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2020. A year later I got accepted to an exchange program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where I spent one semester. During my stay I had great opportunities to learn from remarkable artists such as the 2times GRAMMY winner vocalist Sara Gazarek and the GRAMMY winner double bass player and arranger John Clayton. I also performed my big band arrangement with the TJO big band conducted by Vince Mendoza. In 2023, I received my master degree in jazz singing from the Concervatorium van Amsterdam.
